Dribbles and Drabbles
by Scurryfunger
Summary: unpolished one-shots, half formed ideas, and introductory chapters. Reviews welcome, if enough attention is given to a particular idea it may be expanded on. Various crossovers and combos of Inuyasha, Naruto, Ranma, Yu Yu Hakusho, Inkheart, and Ouran.
1. Inkeart and Naruto

Inkheart/Naruto

_Disclaimer: Alas, I do not own Inkheart or Naruto._

Meggie anxiously read through her story for what felt like the hundredth time. She still wasn't quite satisfied with it, though she wasn't sure if her unease was a result of nerves or poor writing. The voices of her classmates droned on in the background. She felt a bit guilty about tuning them out, but it was hard to stay focused on their presentations when she was so nervous about her own.

This was her first time reading her own work aloud, her first chance to read without purposefully stuttering and stumbling along, purposefully mangling words to protect the class from her dangerous tongue. Everything had finally settled down in the aftermath of the Capricorn disaster, her family reunited and living happily at Eleanor's house. She wouldn't be able to forgive herself if she accidentally threw their lives back into turmoil.

Meggie was pulled out of her abstraction by the call of her teacher. It was time. Her chair screeched loudly across the tile as she stood to walk to the front of the class. Heart pounding, face red, she reassured herself again; it was just an assignment, not even a completely original work. In a ploy to remain within their "Modern Japanese Culture" theme their teacher had instructed them to base their story off of Naruto, their assigned reading.

This story didn't belong to her, never could, it wasn't an honest reflection of her abilities. Unsurprisingly, these thoughts didn't make her feel any better. Too late for any last minute corrections though, because she was before the class, capturing their somewhat divided attention.

Easing her tense grip on her papers, Meggie bowed her head and began to read.

_Sasuke Uchiha was by far the most famous orphan of Konoha. Between the dramatic death of his family in a time of relative peace and the infamous Sharingan bloodline his notoriety was inevitable. However, he was not the only one. The third shinobi war decimated the clans and smaller families of Konoha. The kyuubi attack years later picked off many more, and as the casualties mounted, a silent struggle between the Hokage and Danzo began._

_With no family or identity, most children were ripe for recruitment into Root, practically begging to be honed into weapons for the good of Konoha. The Hokage was able to protect some; Tenten, Uchiha Sasuke, and Uzumaki Naruto escaped Root's clutches, but most were not so fortunate._

_Meggie Silvertongue was one of Danzo's finest catches, the last member of a powerful and secretive bloodline. The Silvertongues had been a peaceful civilian clan for most of history, abstaining from the ninja arts, instead acting as maintainers of knowledge; peaceful writers, book binders, and librarians. They possessed the gift, or perhaps curse, to speak life into words, but agreed that the consequences of their power were too great for casual use, and each took a vow to never read aloud. _

_This changed during the third shinobi war when the clan came forward to protect Konoha. Though crucial to many victories, they were quickly picked off due to their inexperience until only two remained, husband and wife Mortimer and Teresa Silvertongue, familiarly known as Mo and Resa. They too died in the Kyuubi attack, leaving their two month old daughter Meggie beind._

_Thanks to her bloodline, Meggie had access to something none of the other Root orphans were allowed: stories. When she wasn't training in the ordinary ninja arts she was reading. Myths, legends, and novels became her only solace, and though she didn't have a family, was surrounded by emotionless faces and unyielding orders, her books lit a dim path apart from the rest of Root._

_So when Danzo arranged for her rotation among the new genin teams and made it clear she was to make regular reports on the potential of the rookie nine she bowed like an obedient little weapon, and allowed herself to hope._

The words flowed smoothly across her lips, weaving a creeping design through the air, invading the imagination. Actually, it was almost too smooth, but Meggie dismissed her faint misgivings. Hadn't Mo read his own versions of children stories to keep her safe, wasn't it an ironclad rule that you couldn't evoke life from your own writing?

So the moment to turn back came and went, and as the last syllables of the final sentence swept through the class, Meggie disappeared, leaving her papers to scatter on a breeze threaded with leaves.

Disorientation swept through Meggie, and next thing she knew her head was bowed towards the ground subserviently, one knee gently aching with cold thanks to her half kneel on a desolate stone bridge, story still trembling upon hesitant lips.

Hope. She felt hope for the future, hope that the class would accept her meager abilities. Wait. No. That wasn't right. She had just been assigned to monitor the new genin teams and thought that perhaps... but that couldn't be right either. She was a bookworm... a fighter... a daughter... an orphan... a student... a ninja.

Instincts from... somewhere... urged her to speak. The silence was expectant, and she was not alone. Meggie wanted to scream, to cry, to clutch her head in confusion. It was all wrong! Instead she obediently murmured "Yes Danzo-sama," and stretched out her hand to accept the mission scroll from her commander. Then, moving with such speed that her body blurred out of sight, she leapt away, ostensibly to begin her duties.

The same ironclad instincts prevented her from running across the rooftops clutching her head and screaming, and instead brought her to a tiny apartment. She assessed her surroundings; definitely under surveillance. Possibly not by Root, but definitely by ANBU; after all, she was in the same run down complex as the Jinchuuriki. Naruto; her mind supplied, not a sacrifice or a sneaky demon, but a human.

Brushing past the unfamiliar distinction, Meggie continued her evaluation and settled on safe but not secure. Unfamiliar in every sense of the word; this was not the Root complex or Eleanor's house. However, no one would wonder at a 12 year old girl sitting down to stare intently at the mirror. After casually depositing the mission scroll on the kitchen table, Meggie strode into the adjoining bedroom.

The walls lined with a combination of books and scrolls gave her momentary pause. It was almost like being back in Eleanor's house, though not quite. Eleanor's house didn't have a desk neatly laid out with mirror, paper, and a sparkling set of senbon needles, nor did she have the rolls and rolls of bandages and poison antidotes Meggie knew could be found one of the kitchen cupboards. Shaking off her disorientation, she settled in front of the mirror.

Meggie hesitantly touched her temple. Those were her blue eyes, unremarkable mouth, ears, nose, and dark blonde hair woven into a loose braid stretching down her back, but this wasn't her mind, her life, her feelings. It was as if there was a disconnect... she thought one thing, but did another; acted with precision and thought amidst a fog. This wasn't her story.

Suddenly it clicked; the writing assignment, class, stupidly reading aloud, ignoring the warning signs, plowing ahead until what should have been fiction became reality. Meggie couldn't look at herself any more. That face had sacrificed a family, love, peace, home, all because of a silly bit of homework and overinflated pride. She'd betrayed not only herself, but also Mo, Resa, Eleanor, even Darius, and self loathing invaded her entire being.

Meggie couldn't let herself be overcome by despair for long though. Her Root training wouldn't allow it, and her natural determination rebelled against it. Surely what had been said could be reversed; if it was possible to write yourself into another world, why not conjure up a way out.

Swiftly she grabbed a few sheets of paper, yanked a brush out of the holster on her thigh, and flipped open the inkwell disguised as armor on her right hand. Pushing aside the rather unnerved section of her brain that realized she was going through the motions of preparing for battle, Meggie threw words down on the page, her agitation resulting in messy splatters of ink.

'Meggie returned home.' She stopped, stared at the scrawl. Definitely not her most eloquent work, and probably not enough to actually accomplish anything. No harm in trying though. "Meggie returned home." No, three words definitely weren't enough. After all, her story had stretched across a couple pages, never mind the inner landscape mapped out into an indefinite future.

Meggie knew with absolute certainty, with complete faith, that her home was elsewhere, in a house lined with books and filled with family. She simply needed to capture her universe on page.

Desperately, she resumed her writing. She filled the pages with her thoughts and the hours with her voice. Day melted into night, and as her writing became indecipherable in the darkness, and a small voice warned her that Danzo would not be pleased with her failure to start collecting data on the new genin, Meggie stopped.

She stood, automatically stretching her kinked muscles as she went, and turned to flick the switch on the wall. Irritation jarred her movements as she walked back into the kitchen to pour out a much needed glass of water. It just wasn't working.

Meggie didn't know why. Perhaps her writing wasn't eloquent enough, or her voice strong enough, but none of her attempts were remotely successful. There wasn't even a spark, a hint of success, and the rational part of her, the part that would prefer to stay alive, knew that if she kept this suspicious behavior up and blatantly ignored Danzo's orders it wouldn't be long before she found herself rotting in a high security Root prison.

Danzo knew all her tricks, he'd been the one to make her dangerous in the first place, and he wouldn't hesitate to cut out her tongue if she proved herself disloyal or useless. There was nothing for it, she'd have to play by the rules, follow the plot, complete the mission and life she'd made for herself.

Meggie glared at the scroll still lying innocently on the kitchen table. Why did she have to write herself in as Danzo's pawn? What a ridiculous plot, although... Meggie thought back. That hadn't exactly been the plan.

The last living member of the Silvertongue clan wasn't meant to continue on under Danzo's thumb. She was destined to befriend the genin of Konoha and use her unique situation as the only Root member without a seal on her tongue guaranteeing secrecy to betray Danzo.

Meggie realized with equal parts glee and horror that she'd made herself a heroine in a painfully lethal and deceptive world.

The possibilities were terrifying. Meggie had meshed herself with another author's story. She wasn't the same as Fenoglio, intimately acquainted with every character, omniscient and powerful. She only knew that she, Meggie Silvertongue, could betray Danzo and that the Hokage would listen to her.

Her familiarity with Kishimoto's story was spotty at best, and may have been made obsolete thanks to her meddling. Orochimaru might invade the Chunin exams, Itachi might not be a heartless murderer, and Akatsuki could be trying to take over the world, but who knew.

Meggie's shaking knees told her it was time to sit down and she obeyed, collapsing onto the closest kitchen chair, still clutching her glass of water. She shoved on the brakes, forcing her mind to a screeching halt. The future was still uncertain, nothing terribly new. Of course if she'd been more careful in her planning of a backs-story and research of the Naruto series this wouldn't be as frightening, but! There was no use crying over spilt milk. No use at all.

Perhaps she'd become a tragic hero, perhaps she'd die trying to save to world, but perhaps dying here would send her back to her parents. Hmm, highly unlikely. No, her best and only option was to live this story out, and her predicament only proved how important it was that she never stop writing of home. In a way it was inevitable that her first attempts would fail, after all she had to capture a lifetime. It should span across an entire series of books, not a hastily written stack of paper. Every day, no matter what, she had to try and send herself back.

In the meantime though, she'd more than filled up her quota for the day, and what Meggie reluctantly acknowledged as the real world awaited.

Tomorrow she would make the first step towards freeing herself from Danzo. Tonight it was time to finally look through that mission scroll.

Danzo had a number of methods for going behind the Hokage's back. After all, an underground organization like Root couldn't survive on luck alone when you were dealing with a leader legendary for his intelligence. There was going through the council, sneaking innocent looking ordinances into completely unrelated rulings, lacing the ANBU ranks with Root members, and various other schemes and subterfuge.

Sometimes though, the direct route was the best, especially when the secrets were so large that they couldn't be completely hidden. After all, who is going to suspect something that is right under their nose? And even if the suspicion is there, what can you do when all appears legal and straight forward? Nothing of course.

Thus the third Hokage found himself faced with the last remnant of the Silvertongue clan—an obvious plant from Danzo—but was powerless to do anything about it. The paperwork was unquestionable. Adopted by a pair of retired ninja, Meggie never attended the academy because she was homeschooled so as to accommodate her unique gifts. Thus, she'd missed placement into a genin team, and after being tested for competence in the shinobi arts, the council had voted in favor of rotating her among the rookie genin on a probationary basis.

It was all a bunch of bunk, but the most Sarutobi could do was meet with the girl before she was sent off to no doubt monitor the progress of their latest unusually interesting batch of genin, and fish for a miracle.

So far no miracles were forthcoming, though the girl was behaving... oddly. One moment she seemed like any other genin, too inexperienced to hide the direction of her darting eyes or disguise her nerves in front of Leaf's leader, but then she'd clamp down. Eyes would become distant, stance sharp and professional. It wasn't an unfamiliar dichotomy, but it didn't make sense in a Root agent. Was she truly this laxly trained, still caught by the newbie anxiety of an inexperienced genin, or was it a flawless act?

Then there was the problem of her attire. The inkwell attached to her hand was worrying enough; it would appear this Silvertongue had no compunction using her clan's powers as a weapon. It was difficult to say much more about her capabilities thanks to the coat reaching all the way down to her knees. The outfit was highly reminiscent of Mitarashi Anko's attire—though nowhere near as revealing, it was closed from neck to waist—and Sarutobi was forced to wonder why Danzo would allow one of his people to imitate the style of Orochimaru's ex-apprentice.

The strangest part though, was her shoes. Thanks to the monopoly on ninja footwear, there wasn't much variation on the toeless shoes from village to village never mind person to person. Yet this girl was wearing very sturdy looking boots reinforced with straps and metal bits. Sarutobi prayed that the ANBU on surveillance around his office were professional enough to only take passing notice of her footwear, and focus on the larger picture. After all, ninja sandals had caused an undercurrent of discontent within the populace for years, decades even.

Altogether, Sarutobi was forced to conclude that the Silvertongue's appearance and attitude had been carefully crafted to draw attention away from her mission. With such odd dichotomies of behavior and appearance, ninja would be distracted from her true purpose; information gathering and infiltration. Most would be too busy trying to wheedle the name of her shoe manufacturer out of her, or wondering how Anko would react to someone stealing her wardrobe style to stay on alert for betrayal.

While Sarutobi hid his puzzlement behind a serene facade, Meggie silently cursed her poor plan making and inexperience. Root agent training had filled in a lot of blanks in this universe. She could hurl a weapon with dead on accuracy, leap across buildings, and infiltrate underground laboratories, but they certainly didn't tell you how to turn traitor to a secret organization. An idiot's guide to switching political sides would be great right now.

After all, she could hardly blurt out to the Hokage, "Hey Sarutobi, I've had a sudden change of heart, simply meeting you for the very first time is enough to convert me to the Will of Fire. Let me help you bring down Root, and by the way this definitely isn't some sort of double cross spy mission. I've just been blown away by your powerful and sympathetic demeanor! Truly! Would now be a good time to mention that I'm from another dimension and may have multiple personality disorder?"

**A/N**: I love Inkheart. If you have not read it, you should. Right now. Chances are you can find it at most local libraries. If you've seen the movie... there's no comparison. It's a beautiful, lyrical, and magical story. The audio book is also quite pleasant, the first one... I'm not fond of the reader for the 2nd and 3rd books... In fact I'm not as fond of the 2nd and 3rd books overall, hence the reason I set this immediately after the first one.

I would really like to finish this story. I even asked my amazingly artistic and talented (yes, I'm jealous) younger sister to draw up a sketch of Meggie's ninja outfit, and promptly fell in love with it. There are nowhere near enough awesome Inkheart crossovers, especially considering all the possibilities, but I do need to finish the fanfics I've already started, and the problems I encountered when mentally sketching this out were so complicated that I'd want to focus my sole attention to it.

Some of the questions I'd still need to answer are: How powerful is Meggie? Can she alter the fate of Narutoverse, write up her own version of a happy ending, read it aloud, and fix things just like that? How would her reading abilities be incorporated into a fighting style? Where the heck am I going to find quotes for her to read in battle? What's going on with her parents back home? Did she completely write herself out of existence in her own world, in other words, does anyone even notice she is gone? Would Orochimaru try to give her a curse hickey? etc... etc...etc... Basically I really liked the idea of a Naruto/Inkheart crossover, but realized I had no idea where to take it...


	2. Ranma dies

**A/N: **_**italics**_** are direct quotes from Ranma ½. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Yu Yu Hakusho... obviously... hence the name FANfiction.**

**Yu Yu Hakusho/Ranma ½ crossover**

I didn't want a fiancée. With a Jusenkyo curse to cure and a lifetime of martial arts to master, I had my plate full.

"_Well I still say this whole things sucks! Picking my fiancée for me...without even asking!"_

Turned out I didn't have a choice though, no more than I had with the Neko-ken, or escaping any of Pop's crazy escapades. Surprisingly, it started out okay, looked like even a curse had some benefits.

"_I'm Akane, you want to be friends?"_

Should have known it couldn't last.

"_I'll weigh him down! I'll drown him in the bathtub!"_

I wasn't any happier than she was, so maybe I did let my mouth run a little, but that wasn't any reasopn to murder me.

"_Besides it's no big deal for me to see a naked girl. I've seen myself plenty of times, right? And I'm built better to boot!" BOOM! Akane whacks Ranma with table."Now THAT he had coming."_

Okay, so maybe it was just manslaughter, unless the Tendos were better actors than they were martial artists. Judging by the way two of the Tendo girls were sitting calmly by my prone form, they obviously expected me to wake up, and I doubt my dad would go play Shogi after watching me be killed in front of him... though you never know...

But the fact remained, "I'm dead?"

An overly chirpy voice replied behind me, throwing me into a wild spin over my dead, and still unfortunately female, figure. It just wasn't fair that my curse had followed me into the afterlife, though I couldn't help but wonder what they'd put on the death certificate, maybe transgender. I shuddered.

"Who or what the heck are you?"

"Botan, the grim reaper, transporter of the dead, Chiron of the river Styx or what have you, pleased to meet you Ranma Saotome."

"Right..." the annoyingly chirpy voice didn't match up so well with her tearstained face. Great, I get killed by a psychotic tomboy and picked up by a probably bipolar pink-haired female flying around on an oar. "Hey, can you change me back into a guy?"

"Hmmm." She started flipping through some little black book. "Oh, that's interesting, you were cursed at Jusenkyo. Lots of fiancées, master of the neko-ken, heir to the anything goes school of martial arts, and a pretty decent track record as far as good deeds go." I waited impatiently as her reading descended into indistinguishable muttering. Finally she lifted her head from the damn book and fixed me with a look. A shiver went up my spiritual spine. I didn't like that look, that was Dad's look when he got some new, insane training idea, it was Shampoos crazed gleam every time she came at me with a katana, and it boded disaster.

"You," she said excitedly, "were not supposed to die today."

"Huh." I said, scratching my head, I'd thought it seemed unfair that I'd be taken out by some chick swinging a table, who would have thought that fate would agree with me. "So, can I get back in my body now?"

"Hah, hah. No! Of course not, we don't just give out resurrections to anyone who deserves them; you have to undergo a test first."

Oh no, there was the smile, the 'You're going to do exactly what I say or else' grin.

"Usually it's a test of character, but your background's clean so far, and if you haven't been corrupted by a gender switching curse, a manipulative father, or the power of the neko-ken, than chances are nothing Spirit world comes up with is going to faze you."

For a moment I was flattered. No idea what she meant by 'corruption,' but getting out of a test always sounds good.

"Spirit world could make use of your martial arts talents though. Our current spirit detective is representing us in a demon tournament. One of the members of his team just died, and they can't enter the final round without five members."

Martial arts were perfect! This'd be easy, get in beat up some guys, and get back to life as usual. "Sure I'll do it!" Then the rest of what she'd said filtered through. "Wait a second, demon tournament?"

"Wonderful!" She beamed so brightly I felt almost blinded. "In that case, come with me and I'll introduce you to Koenma."

"Huh, wait!" It was never a good sign when people started ignoring my questions, sort of like when Pops wouldn't tell me why he wanted to go back to Japan, just said to swim harder. "What about my body, my curse, the demons, and who the heck is Koenma."

Botan just giggled. "Of course, how could I forget your body, it could be difficult for you to fight without it." She started muttering something about mouth to mouth spirit resuscitation, but I was too busy watching the Tendo girls screaming as my body started levitating in thin air to be worried.

"Come on, Ranma, we're short on time. We need to synchronize you with your body right away, the final round of the tournament starts tomorrow!"

**A/N:** I'm still fond of this idea. Ranma dies, joins the spirit tournament, kicks ass, hangs out with fun Yu Yu Hakusho characters, it would be neat... except for the fact that I'm really bad at writing fight scenes (kind of a problem when most of my favorite manga/anime is all about martial arts), and I didn't want to mutilate this story with my first meager attempts... I'm still working on it. So it fell by the wayside.


	3. Genkai trains Team 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto

**Yu Yu Hakusho/Naruto crossover**

For the first time in their short stint as team 7 and possibly their entire lives, Naruto and Sasuke were completely in agreement; something was wrong with their sensei. They'd only been tortured with D rank missions for a week, but there were a few undeniable routines. Kakashi was always late, always wearing that annoying mask, and always giggling perversely at a bright Icha Icha paperback.

Yet there was Kakashi, mask-less, revealing a thin scar stretching down from the hitaite slung over his right eye and an otherwise unremarkable face. What was more he was on time, standing with them on the bridge in the early morning waiting for Sakura without a trace of the pernicious Icha Icha. Instead of the giggling at his favorite book he was silently appraising his two students in a thoroughly alarming manner.

Sasuke leaned nonchalantely against the railing, exuding his usual icy air. He attempted to send a few penetrating glares back at the imposter poorly disguised as his sensei, but met with only a slowly raised eyebrow. Naruto stood next to Sasuke in a show of solidarity, ready to charge forward at the slightest provocation. Arms crossed, eyes squinting at Kakashi he looked over the inconsistencies and tried to decide whether he was delighted or disturbed by the changes.

Tensions rose as the team stared each other down in the silence. Just as Naruto decided that he preferred this new, more intimidating model of Kakashi, but wished both versions would stop paying so much attention to Sasuke, Sakura ran up gasping for breath.

"You're late," fake Kakashi said swiftly.

Sakura glanced at Kakashi from her hunched over position and did a double take. Her expression swiftly shifted from embarrassment to astonishment to anger. She straightened up, glaring daggers at the man in front of her.

"How dare you!" Sakura shouted, voice wavering between a wail and a screech, "I died yesterday in case you didn't remember, and it is completely your fault I'm late this morning! If I hadn't been held up with ridiculous, completely impossible mission briefings thanks to your interference I would have had enough time to do more than throw on some decent clothes and run out the door. And how dare you—"

"Sakura!" Kakashi interrupted warningly, eyes darting meaningfully towards her two teammates.

Sakura clammed up and turned to Naruto and Sasuke, face still red from exertion. Sasuke was surprised to note that she actually did look like she'd just rolled out of bed and grabbed the closest wearable clothing. Instead of her usual red tunic and leggings Sakura was dressed in a tight fitting forest green t-shirt with a short maroon skirt over black leggings. With obviously tousled hair loosely pulled back in a pony-tail and a wan face she looked far more subdued than usual. However, this paled in comparison to their other mystery, why would someone bother to so poorly imitate their jonin-sensei?

Sasuke was tempted to walk right up to Kakashi and start demanding answers or, even better, punch him to make the henge disappear, but haphazardly charging into unknown situations was Naruto's job. Judging by the way the dobe was unsuccessfully interrogating Sakura about her 'death' the other day; the idiot obviously hadn't noticed anything wrong.

Somewhat at a loss for what to do, Sasuke turned his attention away from the ordinary spectacle of Sakura once again beating Naruto up for acting too love-struck, and resumed glaring at the older man across from him.

Fake-sensei didn't bother glaring back, choosing instead to holler in a thoroughly un-Kakashi like manner at Naruto and Sakura.

"Cut it out you brats! And you call yourself ninja! I only see a bunch a posturing, squabbling dimwits!" With this he pointedly met eyes with each of them in turn, but Sakura was the only one to show a mote of remorse. "Since you have proven yourself utterly unworthy of the genin title, it looks like we'll need to start from the basics," he continued silkily, "Endurance, speed, power, precision, teamwork; these are all crucial ninja foundations, and I have witnessed insufficient quantities of each for the past week." By now, fake-sensei had started pacing back and forth across the bridge as he lectured.

Sasuke watched sullenly, not caring that Sakura and Naruto were wearing matching expressions. He already had all of those traits, and if it weren't for the fact his teammates were a couple of annoying failures, he'd probably be good at teamwork too. In any case, it didn't matter what this man said, because he was not Kakashi-sensei, and possessed no authority over him whatsoever. He tuned out the rest of the speech until Sakura's screech of dismay brought him out of his brooding.

"You heard me, twenty laps around Konoha! NOW!

A/N: I've tried a couple different variations of a Yu Yu Hakusho crossover, all with basically the same premise. Sakura dies of something stupid, like choking on a carrot or tripping, and when Botan or some other random grim reaper goes to put her soul back they accidentally grab Genkai's soul instead (pink hair...) , and so Genkai gets embroiled in the Naruto world problems. In this version, Sakura is returned to her body, but Genkai is left floating around and convinced by a desperate grim reaper who is trying to deal with the mess Orochimaru and the Akatsuki are making to stick around and help out. She does this by taking over Kakashi's body when he's asleep and training team 7 into a competent batch of ninja/spirit detectives. Sakura can tell that Kakashi's been taken over because she is now more spiritually sensitive thanks to dying. I'll probably never continue this version of the Yu Yu/Naruto crossover, but I like the intro.


	4. A pink haired mix up

Yu Yu Hakusho/Naruto

_Disclaimer:_ _I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Naruto. _

Spirit world had its share of clerical errors- souls shuffled into the wrong department, bizarre dress code regulations, and promotional mishaps to name a few- but Koenma only had to deal with a big mistake about once every ten years. There'd been a short string of catastrophes a few years back after he'd made Yusuke spirit detective, but things had quieted down since then.

Demon world had promised not to interfere with the humans, and though he'd risen well into the ranks of s-class demon-hood Yusuke had conveniently enough come back to open up a ramen shop and could be easily coerced into dealing with any problems that sprouted up. By Koenma's calculations, he was due at least another five solid years of peace and quiet. Unfortunately, as Koenma looked up from his desk to see a strung out reaper ushering two identical pink haired girls into his office he decided it was time to readjust his disaster ratio.

A cursory glance at the two young women did not bode well. Only one of them was physically present, and her spiritual and chakra energies were unusually unbalanced. The other girl was a mere spirit, and seemed on the verge of a breakdown.

Koenma turned unhappily towards the remaining traumatized female. "What is the meaning of this Megumi?"

"I'm sorry Lord Koenma!" Megumi said hastily, "I messed up a routine soul return." She pulled out a small book. "Haruno Sakura, age 12, died of choking on a piece of celebratory chocolate at 8 pm yesterday. I arrived on the scene ten minutes later to help her reintegrate with her body since she fell within our death reversal policy for the Forbidden Realms."

Koenma stiffened. "Forbidden Realms?"

"Yes," Megumi said anxiously, "as you know we reverse whatever discretion will allow thanks to our immense daily intake of souls. In any case, I arrived at the scene to find Sakura's soul missing from the immediate vicinity and assumed she had ascended to spirit world. In my rush to locate her spirit I'm ashamed to say I grabbed the first pink haired girl I saw and immediately started the transfer. I didn't discover my mistake until she was already integrated into the new body. I then tracked down the real Haruno Sakura and found her attempting to catch the attention of Uchiha Sasuke."

Koenma resisted the urge to start screaming at the downcast Megumi. What a disaster. Now that Sakura's body had joined with a new soul it would be months, possibly years before they could reverse the operation.

"So who exactly did you so hastily snatch from Spirit world?" Koenma spat out between gritted teeth.

"I'm not sure." Megumi glanced nervously at her mistake. "She wouldn't tell me, just demanded I bring her to you."

Koenma paled. He only knew one recently deceased pink-haired woman and, if he was right, this would be her second impromptu trip out of Spirit world. "Genkai?"

"Koenma." Genkai said flatly. "Care to explain why you're authorizing so many soul returns. I was under the impression such things were highly frowned upon."

"Yes, quite correct, they are," Koenma blustered, "but the Forbidden Reams are another matter entirely."

Genkai quirked a petal pink eyebrow. "Are they."

Koenma deflated under her piercing stare. Genkai was terrifying, and it wasn't just her glares, or the knowledge that she could and would beat you to a pulp if you got in her way, it was her connections. She was smart, and she always seemed to know where to drop bits of incriminating information, and who to find when digging up dirt. Before her deaths she'd been a strong ally, but there were iron clad limits to her patience.

"Orders from the higher ups," he said weakly "the Forbidden Realms really are a mess, humans sealed away on the very bottom of demon world with a set of nine irritatingly powerful, irrational, and ego-maniacal tailed beasts. They aren't really under Demon or Spirit world control, so we're at a stalemate when problems crop up. I've been meaning to talk to Enki about the situation sometime soon, but work has been incessant." Koenma waved at his piles of paperwork and sighed when one went crashing to the ground.

Koenma watched warily as Genkai's look turned thoughtful. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but the soul placement tecnique that your reaper thoroughly butchered has trapped me in this body for a while."

The real Sakura whimpered off to the side and Megumi laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. Koenma spared a moment to wonder how much Genkai had contributed to their harried and terror stricken states.

"Yes, we won't be able to correct the error until both your spirit energies are aligned so that Sakura's spirit can naturally pull you out of her body, and that could take..."

"Years." Genkai supplied.

"Years." Koenma agreed.

"And I suppose killing myself to speed up the process..."

"would be highly inadvisable." Koenma quickly finished.

"Very well," Genkai said briskly "Then are you going to tell me about these 'problems' in the so called 'Forbidden Realms.'"

Koenma stuttered something about regulations and confidentiality, but quickly realized his protestations were falling on deaf ears and an increasingly irritated face.

"Let's be frank for once Koenma. I think we both know you can't resist an opportunity like this. Don't think I didn't notice how you pulled me into the Dark Tournament and Sensui disasters just because Yusuke was my apprentice."

Koenma winced but shot back defensively "You volunteered to go along with both of those operations."

"No, I simply didn't mind tagging along to keep my dimwitted student from getting himself killed, so I stepped forward before you could slap on a few misdemeanors to coerce me into 'cooperation.'"

Koenma quickly checked to see how Megumi was taking his utter humiliation, but fortunately she seemed to be too preoccupied with comforting Sakura to notice. Still, better safe than sorry.

"Megumi, please take Sakura to one of our spirit lounges for now and keep an eye on her."

"But Koenma Sir, soul collection has already fallen behind in the few hours I've been gone, they urgently need my help."

"Fine, get George to look after her, that lazy ogre always has too much time on his hands."

Megumi bowed her head eagerly in assent and gently shepherded Sakura out the door.

As soon as the door shut Genkai spoke up. "That bad?"

"You have no idea; we're still backed up on paperwork from the third ninja war that ended over ten years ago."

"Ninja you say?"

"Absurdly powerful ninja." Koenma affirmed, "To make matters worse, quite a few of them have demon blood which manifests in 'bloodlines.' It seems like whenever they aren't surviving attacks from a bijuu they're committing genocides or starting another war. As if that isn't bad enough, now that they've figured out ways to deal with the bijuu the problems have escalated into the realm of the truly bizarre and potentially disastrous. We're coping with unauthorized deals with death gods, an immortality obsessed freak named Orochimaru messing with snake summon sacrifices and soul-altering curse seals, and a highly suspicious group called the Akatsuki that possesses a statue capable of breaking through the barrier separating the Forbidden Realms from demon world."

Koenma was mildly gratified by the impressed look on Genkai's face as she absorbed the scope of his dilemna. "If I send a spirit detective in their spirit energy advantage will be negated by the ninja's expert use of chakra, and they'd probably end up being tortured for information and dissected to better understand their unique powers."

"Which is why I'm in the perfect situation to infiltrate the ninja society." Genkai supplied.

"Quite."

"However, I fail to see how one agent could solve your problems, particularly one in a 12 year old body."

"Ah, well, you see, your mission would be to assess how well the Forbidden Realms would incorporate into Demon World if the barrier were to fall. Long term goals would preferably include infiltration of the Akatsuki, assassination of Orochimaru, and subjugation of the bijuu as was necessary." Koenma peered tentatively at Genkai to see how she'd take his to do list.

"I never tagged you as delusional Koenma" Genkai said dryly, "but I may have to reassess my opinions."

"I suppose it is an intimidating task, perhaps a little unreasonable—"

"Absolutely ridiculous you mean." Genkai interrupted. "At the very least you should be collaborating with Enki on this, you did say Demon and Spirit world have joint jurisdiction over the Forbidden Realms. Going behind his back is hardly the way to promote future amicability."

"Yes, but—"

"and there is no way I'm going in alone. We'll need at least three more people, one to infiltrate Akatsuki, one to shadow this Orochimaru creature, and one to back me up preferably with mind manipulation capabilities and stealth training. Hiei would be perfect." she mused.

"I hardly think—"

"Yes, you do seem to avoid thinking whenever possible. I however, do not intend to pointlessly die a third time."

"I can attempt to form an agreement with Enki," Koenma conceded, "but it could take days, weeks even to schedule a meeting never mind draw up a mutually accepted plan, and in the meantime your cover will have been blown! We need you back there tomorrow morning at the latest!"

"I suggest you drop the formalities then Koenma and get moving because I refuse to do your dirty work without assistance or even a sensible plan."

Koenma stared dumbstruck at Genkai's unyielding form for a moment, trapped and cornered. His mind stuttered back to life, stumbling through possibilities. Yusuke could probably be convinced to drop everything and help out, and Enki was relatively amiable, hopefully he'd go along with even a hastily drawn up strategy. Hiei would be difficult, but with Enki's backing... He had no idea who else to drag in, Kurama was an almost definite no, he'd vowed to stay in human world until death, and the monotonous routines of daily life hadn't quite worn him down yet. Perhaps the real Sakura, as a spirit she'd be an ideal spy, though there was no knowing with those ninjas. Still, perhaps it was doable.

Koenma visibly brightened, drawing another expectant eyebrow quirk from Genkai.

"Very well, you'll have your team."

"Before morning?"

"Naturally."

"Good."

A/N: This story is pretty self explanatory. It's the version of the Yu Yu Hakuso/Naruto crossover that I'd probably use if I were to continue with the Genkai gets mixed up with Sakura idea. I had some ideas sketched out... Yusuke shows up at Akatsuki and demands to join up, Sakura spies on Orochimaru and is thoroughly creeped out, possibly captured, Hiei lurks in Konoha, has to keep on hypnotizing Kakashi, potentially causes brain damage, unnerves Sasuke with red eyes, Kurama gives in eventually and takes over the spying on snake man job... If I ever finish my current stories this is probably what I'd start on next.


	5. Kagome has a plan

Inuyasha / Yu Yu Hakusho

"What the hell?"

Inuyasha's sentiment was clearly echoed in the weary, incredulous looks on Miroku, Sango, Kikyo, and even Shippo's faces as they gazed at the jewel innocently resting on Kagome's palm.

"But, Naraku was supposed to possess the last of the shards," Miroku said brokenly, rubbing the unblemished hand where the wind tunnel formerly resided.

"Damn right." Inuyasha growled, glaring threateningly at the tiny gap marring the jewel's perfection.

Kikyo laid a calming hand on his shoulder. "I don't know how we could have missed one, and Naraku never would have confronted us if he thought there were still lose shards lying around, but with all of us searching I'm sure it won't take too long to complete the jewel."

The group fell silent, sharing similar thoughts. Already four years of their lives had been consumed with the hunt for the jewel shards and that wasn't even counting Inuyasha's fifty years sealed to a tree, Miroku's hunt for Naraku spanning across three generations, or the centuries of turmoil since the jewel was first ejected from Midoriko's chest. Were they doomed to forever live in the shikon's shadow?

None noticed Kagome's face shift from stricken to puzzled, finally resting on a mixture of relief and embarrassment until she broke into their introspection.

"Umm, I just remembered, I know where the last shard is."

"What?" As usual, rage came easier than gratitude to Inuyasha, "Then why the hell isn't it here? Don't tell me you did something stupid like handing it over to that stupid wimpy wolf you wench!"

Kagome scowled back at Inuyasha, but her sharp retort was beaten by Kikyo's smack to his head.

"Stop jumping to conclusions baka! And how many times do I have to tell you not to call Kagome a wench!"

Inuyasha glared back at his mate while the others looked on in amusement, gradually relaxing now that the end of their search was in sight. These arguments were commonplace. Ever since Inuyasha had taken Kikyo as a wife and welcomed her into their odd family she'd come alive in more ways than one. Her fast friendship with Kagome had been equally, if not more, valuable than the miko skills she was able to pass on.

Undeniably, she had come a long way from the icy, desperately lonely priestess incapable of accepting Inuyasha's demon heritage. It was ironic that it was Inuyasha's dual nature, two souls, human and demon, that allowed him to share and split his soul with Kikyo. It had the added benefit that he no longer transformed into an out of control demon, or a human on the night of the new moon. One demonic sword and a trip to the underworld later, and Kikyo had a living, breathing body and a new chance at life.

The only mixed blessing was that without a slice of Kagome's soul, Kikyo could no longer harness spiritual power. She certainly wasn't a 'normal human woman;' put together demonic energy and a lifetime of miko training and you have a force to be reckoned with, but in the final battle the job of purifying Naraku out of existence fell solely on Kagome. Fortunately, with a complete and unrestricted soul, and Kikyo's training, Kagome was more powerful than ever, and more than a match for the evil hanyou.

"Thanks Kikyo, as I was about to say, I hid one jewel shard in my era so that just in case Naraku managed to take all of our shards, he still wouldn't be able to complete the jewel. Since there aren't any demons in my time, I figured it would be safer than anywhere I could conceal it here. I still took precautions to disguise its energy though. All I have to do is go dig it up."

"Good thinking Kagome, but why didn't any of us know about it?" Sango asked.

Kagome looked sheepish and ducked her head to place the jewel in the pouch she kept hung around her neck. "Well, I'd love to say that I was trying to protect you from the burden of another secret, but honestly I just forgot. Kaede knew, she's the one who taught me how to contain the jewel's aura, but I wasn't sure if I'd be able to do it when I got home. I've never tried to use my powers there... I mean, Inuyasha's necklace worked just fine when he came through the well, so I was hopeful, but I didn't want to get your hopes up. it turned out fine, but right after I got back Kohaku showed up, and then Kaede died, and when Kikyo came to the funeral she joined our group, and by the time things were relatively calm again it had slipped my mind."

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that be about two years ago?" Miroku asked, tallying up the months since Kikyo had joined them.

"Heh, heh... a little over two years, yeah."

A tense mood descended on the group once more, except for Shippo whose attention had wandered soon after Kagome revealed where the jewel shard was. Obviously she had things under control, and until disaster descended once again he might as well memorialize their victory against Naraku in vivid crayon print.

"Have you checked to make sure it's still there?" Kikyo asked

Kagome wilted under their scrutiny, "No, like I said, I completely forgot about it... but" she desperately added "it's probably just as well. It would have looked suspicious if I kept digging up this random spot in the woods, and it's not like it was in my backyard or something, I'd have had to go out of my way to check on it."

"You abandoned it in the woods? Damn it Kagome, anything could've found it! Wild animals could've dug it up, and that's saying you actually managed to shield its power so every demon within miles wasn't drawn to it! Do you even remember where you left it?"

"Of course I do!" Kagome faltered, "and even if I didn't, I made a map." She paused again, "and I might have misplaced the map, but I know the general area, and I'll be able to sense my own wards." She could tell none of them were buying it.

"There are no demons in my time. Even if I missed them, Inuyasha didn't even smell any."

"I haven't been back there for about a year and a half Kagome, ever since you finally removed that stupid rosary."

"Okay... but I definitely would have noticed if a demon was running around Tokyo with a jewel shard."

"Naraku's style always was to lurk in the shadows and wait for an opportune moment to strike," Miroku pointed out, "and you haven't been spending as much time at home since your training started and you dropped out of school."

"I dug a really, really deep hole."

"As if that will stop anything." Inuyasha snarked.

"Umm... the world hasn't come to an end?"

"As far as we know," Miroku said ominously at the same time as Inuyasha replied "Not yet."

Kagome took a deep breath and returned to the offensive. "I think you're blowing this completely out of proportion. Chances are good nothing bad happened, and I'll be able to easily, without mass bloodshed or mayhem, complete the jewel in my own time. If some small demon slipped under my radar and took the jewel, I shouldn't have any trouble getting it back thanks to all you've taught me."

Her words still weren't getting through, so she tried one last tack.

"Really guys, you don't need to worry. My time, my problem. I'll deal with it, and figure out how to destroy the jewel forever. You'll be able to live your lives in peace." Less forcefully she added, "In any case, once I've brought the jewel back to my own time, the well might close... I mean... we've defeated Naraku, and completed as much of the jewel as possible. Our, or my, soul isn't burning for revenge against Inuyasha any more... there's no quest left for me to complete..."

"Don't say that Kagome!" Sango said "You'll always have a place with us, and some stupid well won't stop us from helping you if there really is trouble in the future. We could never 'live our lives in peace' as you say if we thought you might be in trouble!"

A/N: I intended this to be a Yu Yu Hakusho/Inuyasha crossover, but it could honestly be just about anything, since this was as far as I ever got writing it. I was mostly just venting my desire for a story where Kagome goes back home, but isn't horribly depressed because she's left her one true love behind, where Kikyo isn't an evil bitch, and where there is a semi-reasonable explanation for how she is suddenly able to competently make use of her priestess powers. I kind of like the idea of hiding a shard in the present. I mean, if they're that worried about Naraku reforming the jewel than why not?

There (supposedly) isn't any significant demonic presence in Kagome's time, and surely there has to be a way to spiritually hide the jewel from demonic and human sensors. I mean, it's kind of similar to what happened in Lord of the Rings, when Sauron's ring got thrown into a river. It was hundreds of years before that became a legitimate problem, even with it sending out evil vibes all the time. Kagome would not take a couple hundred years to defeat Naraku (probably), and then at the end she could just dig the jewel shard back up, reform the jewel and be done with it... makes sense to me...


	6. Kouga and the shards

Kouga sped over the landscape, reveling in the speed his shard enhanced legs reached as he hunted for Naraku. The shards were both a blessing and a curse. They offered tremendous power, but Kouga was far from blind to the drawbacks.

Thanks to the shards, Naraku had slaughtered most of his tribe, and thanks to the shards he was dependent on a human girl, a priestess even, to keep him sane.

The first time they'd touched he was on the brink of completely losing control. The power of the shards had trickled through his defenses, whispering of glory, conquest, and strength. He'd seized the girl, intent on using her to gather more shards and increase in power. She turned out to be his salvation rather than his slave though. Her touch cleared the shard-induced haze, and chased away the demonic presence clouding his judgement.

Determined not to reveal his weakness, Kouga had maintained the pretense of hunting for more shards, and offered Kagome a position in his pack so as to secure her purification powers. Then dog shit just had to show up and steal the spotlight and Kagome away. Kouga's only option had been to declare undying love, and use that as an excuse to visit Kagome again and again. Each time, playing the lovestruck fool, he would grab her hands tightly and spew forth declarations of affection until the shard's taint had cleared from his mind. Annoying the hell out of Inuyasha was just a pleasant bonus.

Sometimes he wondered if Kagome suspected his true motives. She was always patient with his possessive behavior, not trying to pull her hands away from his grasp, though she'd stated quite firmly that she had no intention of becoming his mate...

Kouga returned to the present and growled in annoyance. His shards were already turning dark again, though it had been less than a week since his last visit to Kagome. It seemed as if the more shards Naraku collected, the faster his own became tainted. Sometimes Kouga wondered if the whole charade was even worthwhile. Increased speed looked pretty worthless when it came at the cost of his mind. All that kept him from ripping out his shards, handing them off to Kagome to deal with, and disappearing into the mountains with his tribe was revenge. Thanks to Naraku, he didn't have much of a tribe to return to. Honor demanded that he avenge his fallen pack, and realistically he couldn't do that without the shards. He might be cocky, but he wasn't stupid. It was time to visit the little priestess again.

A/N: This is a little one-shot I wrote back when I first started experimented with fanfiction. Kouga's behavior has always seemed a bit suspicious to me, and I considered writing a story where he wasn't in fact in love with Kagome... it didn't get far.


	7. Kagome goes to Furinkan High

Ranma ½ / Inuyasha 

_Disclaimer: I own neither Ranma ½ or Inuyasha._

Kagome stared at her grades, trying not to cry. She'd tried so hard, done everything short of reciting mathematical equations as she purified demons! Yet it hadn't been enough; she'd failed everything but history, her GPA was below a 1.0, and as of today she had only three options: probation, transfer, or dropping out and fleeing to the feudal era.

Probation would entail actually going to school every day, which simply wasn't feasible. Fleeing to the feudal era was attractive... but Kagome couldn't give up her modern life so easily. No, the only option was transferring to the craziest school in Tokyo, the only place that would take her, the black hole of educational knowledge; home of coconuts, bowl cuts, martial artists, and insanity. Furinkan High.

A/N: Heh Heh... sheepishly hides head... this doesn't really deserve posting, but hey, it's a beginning, and voila, I have created a plot device to put Kagome at Furinkan High part time... and gives Inuyasha a reason to encounter the Nerima Wrecking Crew... eh, it could have been fun.


	8. Kikyo goes to the future

Inuyasha/?

Kikyo fingered her jewel shards as she gazed into the bone eaters well. So this was where her reincarnation came from, an oddly selective portal if it allowed Inuyasha to pass through as well but no other. There were many emotions that Kikyo did not like to admit to when it came to Kagome; jealousy, confusion, incredulity, hope... but she was willing to allow curiosity. Curiosity might discover a way to defeat Naraku, might provide the many answers she desired about her wayward soul, might show her why a body made of clay was so much more volatile than one of flesh.

Kikyo looked into thee well, leaned over the edge, and wondered. Would the well treat a piece of Kagome's soul as Kagome, would it reject her, or accept her as a friend. Kikyo once again allowed a concession to emotion. 'Just this once,' she thought, pushing her conscience, her memories, aside, she slipped into the well where her soul stealers could not follow.

Blue streamers of light erupted from the bottom of the well, twining around her limbs and slowing her descent like pale soul collectors as she dropped. They surrounded her until all she could see was a solid wall of twinkling cerulean. Kikyo felt stifled, and imagined that had she needed to breath she would have been gasping, or dead. Instead she waited, immobile, as a deepening sense of wrong invaded her body.

"Hmm, what do we have here?" an amused voice spoke from amidst the blue, "you certainl aren't Kagome."

Kikyo closed her eyes, trying to sense the voices origin. At first, only darkness greeted her closed lids, but it was slowly replaced by an open field. Kikyo turned about in this nondescript dreamscape and found herself facing a warrior priestess in outdated armor.

"Midoriko?" she ventured; trying not to reveal her confusion as her mind raced. This was not the first time she'd encountered the legendary priestess, but before it had always been through long and arduous meditation with the Shikon jewel. In those circumstances the priestess had never grinned widely at her, or stood in so relaxed a manner; hands on her hips, head cocked curiously.

"Yep, that would be me, the one and only. The real question is who are you, and what are you doing with a piece of Kagome's soul." Midoriko's eyes narrowed slightly and her grin took on a more feral look "and the souls of a couple dozen deceased village girls."

Kikyo tried to remain aloof. She might be an undead, soul consuming being bent on revenge, but still... "Technically, Kagome is in possession of my soul," she clarified.

Midoriko looked puzzled for a moment, then her eyes cleared and she clapped her hands decisively. "Oh, I remember now, you're Kikyo, the misguided girl who couldn't let go of life or Inuyasha," at this she waggled her eyebrows suggestively, "you disappeared mysteriously a while ago, thereby granting Kagome the missing part of her soul, and a power boost that ultimately helped defeat Naraku."

Kikyo gaped at this, this... atrocity of a priestess! How dare she suggest... imply... disappear mysteriously! Disappearing was not a part of the plan, as the real Midoriko knew quite well!

'Midoriko' was now eying her rather speculatively. "I'd almost forgotten about you, five hundred years embedded in a time travel continuum disguised as a well will do that to you... I knew there was a reason I stuck around, besides to ferry Kagome back and forth between the present and the feudal era." Her musings turned to mutterings, and Kikyo had to cock her head in an undignified manner to catch the rest of the patently crazy woman's mumble "Kagome won't be pleased when her ticket back home disappears, but it will turn out for the best... it did turn out for the best..."

A/N: Voila! A crossover of some sort. Originally I planned to combine it with either Ranma ½ or Ouran, where Kikyo takes Kagome's place in the future, and Kagome is shut out from ever returning home. Midoriko would use her soul to power Kikyo's body so that no soul stealing was necessary, and Kikyo in return would probably end up with a slightly kooky priestess nagging at her in her head. It would be weird, and kind of pointless, but worth it to see Kikyo forced to have fun against her will by a centuries old warrior woman with a bad case of cabin fever. Looking back, my tone kind of changes after the first couple paragraphs... when I first started writing this I was feeling solemn, and really sorry for poor Kikyo, and then Midoriko shows up and that all changes... to be fair, I wrote the two sections about eight months apart, so if I ever continue this, I'd have to make it a bit more seamless, in addition to deciding where exactly I wanted to take it.


End file.
